Bite Down on Happiness [Shaoling, Tatsuki]

She almost fell the fuck over when she heard that. In teuth, she had not been expecting that reply at all! She had missed Shaoling, and she expected a 'Don't you have work you should be doing?" or "can you afford to go slacking off at your level?" The kinda stuff she always found herself amused with hearing. Or even just that SHE didn't have time for such things. LAst thing she ever imagined was Shaoling, formerly Soi Feng, would AGREE to go hang out.


"Holy shit, you really ARE almost like a new person." she chuckled, shaking her head a bit as she put on a big smile and made her way to her desk, snagging a little slat which read 'Out to Lunch' to slide into her door on the way out. Glancing toward her once and possibly future Captain, she offered an enthused grin. "Your stomach growlin for anything in particular?" She asked, casually enough. She had no idea if the woman had sustained any injuries to her gut and might need something a bit easy on the stomach or something. Or flat out if there was anything she was craving from the Sereitei that perhaps she hadn't had in a while. The place was ass backwards in a lot of ways, but she had to admit that there were some foods that really were exclusive to this place that were pretty good.

"So it'd seem." She murmured appreciatively, and then put on a smile. That almost sounded like a joke! "Hey gimme a little slack here, I wasn't exactly expecting this. I'm not the kinda girl to plan this stuff out. Though I DO have a place in mind actually." She murmured, rubbing her chin just a little as she promptly led the smaller woman out of her office and pushed the slide into the door as they walked out. It wasn't much of a long walk before they were outside and heading toward the spot she had in mind. Tatsuki simply adjusting her stride on reflex so that the smaller woman wouldn't have to exert herself to keep up.

"It's nothing fancy, but I DID find a vendor that makes a real nice Katsudon. If you're alright with pork that is. Not that she doesn't have other nice stuff, of course." She explained along the way, feeling a little bizarre wal;king beside the woman. Not something she'd really done before. She glanced at Shaoling now and then, as if to reaffirm the woman didn't just vanish on her, among other things.

"Thinking back, I don't think I've ever actually seen you eating anything before. Your old Lieutenant back in the day, sure. But not you. I don't think I know anything about what kinda food you prefer." She mused thoughtfully. Honestly the only thing she'd seen around the woman's face was a scowl.

Tatsuki put on a calm grin at that little needling. "You know me, always living life on the edge. But I guess I just lean a little on my charm and good looks to win favor with my superiors." She reasoned. Her own tone equally as un-serious as her company's. And well...maybe it was her bias being from the world of the living, but she did raise her brows just a little at that, her mind promptly snapping to...well.modern conventions. Ugh...well...she supposed she couldn't even call them modern anymore. She connected it to Sumos favoring the dish for weight gain, but well, there probably wasn't much of that kind of lighthearted stuff in MOST of the world in a hundred years. Stilllll

She eyed the small, slim woman. And for just a faint moment, she pondered the notion of Shaoling trying to round herself out a little. Which made her snort a bit to herself at the very thought. That was just ridiculous, but she DID briefly have a mental picture of a more filled out Shaoling. No, definitely not. But it was a brief, amusing thought [color=brown]"Huh, that so? Not what I imagined, but well. I guess I never was very imaginative.

All the same, she smiled when she spotted the vendor a short ways away, and as they approached, she waved to get the woman's attention and promptly ordered her own Katsudon, letting Shaoling order for herself of course and then it was off to a nearby table to sit with the woman. And Tatsuki had to admit, she kept an eye on Shaoling. Some small part of her .....betting to herself, and wondering what kind of eater the woman was. One half of her imagined something calm and refined, yet efficient. And then another part of her really wondered if the woman was just a ravenous eater and the food would be gone before she knew what happened. Or did the ex-captain take her time with her food? IT was a simple, insignificant fact. But well..she still couldn't help but find herself wondering.

Tatsuki SNORTED and let out a little bark of laughter at the idea of someone trying to use their sexual magnetism on SHAOLING of all people to garner some sort of favor in the division. She couldn't imagine a worse idea, and it sent her into a chuckling fit. "I'd SAY 'can you imagine?', but man, I can only fathom there's GOT to have been one or two that tried it while you were Captain." She sighed, calming down her laughter as she shook her head. TRUE, the sheer volatility of the woman must have scared most. But there were always those idiots that thought they were an exception of some sort. And she did pause for a moment at that. A tiny little light went on in the back of her head that went: Shaoling had a type? Sure she had said it in line with their little joking jab train, but she wondered if THATS what changed in the world of the living. Did she meet someone? Her brows raised a little. But boy did she not know her ex and soon-to-be captain THAT well.

She paid no mind to Shaoling ordering Eel rather than pork. She wasn't the woman's mom she didn't mind what she ordered. All the same she paused at the scent of it as they found a spot to settle down. IT had actually been a while since she'd had Eel, as she wasn't an enormous fan of the stuff. It was alright, just not great. All the same, as they found a spot to sit down, Tatsuki took a moment to pop her chopsticks. "Itadakimasu." She announced, a phrase which, frankly....had always felt a little weird and literal once she'd found out about all this spirit stuff a hundred years ago. She always wondered..... when hollows ate one another, the consciousnesses always retained within. When they devoured animal souls, did some small part of them retain? Maybe it was because she used to be alive, but she always thought about that shit. As ridiculous as it was.

All the same, she started to eat. She was the kinda girl to take her time, at least these days, even if her posture wasn't the best, she was hardly messy. Hmmm.

"I always honestly wondered what it was like. Being a Captain, and all that. But I guess that kinda changes with time. Some of them kinda make it seem like a walk in the park. Others make it seem like it's a curse." She refrained from being specific. "Even thought about shooting for a spot myself. When I got third seat and got a better idea of what the responsibility would be like." She paused. Hm. She had kinda gotten a bit stumped when it came to getting more in touch with her Zanpaku'to. It was such a ...finicky thing. And glancing at Shaoling, she ...DID pause and wonder. The Zanpaku'to was a varied thing, and she tried to imagine Shaoling playing nice with something like her Zanpaku'to. Hmmm. But she wouldn't ask that. A Zanpaku'to was very , or rather...they generally TURNED OUT to be very personal things. She was hardly gonna hit Shaoling with a question like that when she'd only just got back.

Tatsuki raised a brow slightly as she watched the other woman eat, the quick efficiency was pretty much what she had expected, even if some small, tiny little part of her thought it would be kinda funny if her ex Captain turned out to be a bit of a messy eater. All the same it was.... entertaining to watch, cute even. Like a bird quickly picking up grains before intent on flying off. She continued to eat at her own pace, listening as Shaoling gave her opinion on Captaincy. She did wonder about that.

"I feel like some Captains take that a little too far and wind up just screwing their divisions over anyway. I've heard of some Captains letting themselves get buried under paperwork, taking it all on themselves even though they have perfectly good officers beneath them to delegate to. The paperwork builds up, work slows, and sure. The Captain gets to look nice and important, but actual work backs up while people wait for authorizations and important shit." She noted with a shake of her head. "Sometimes I wondered if some of those Captains just thought they looked cooler and more official behind a stack of paper." She mused aloud, shrugging. "But well. I've also met a few Lieutenants like that. " The division really hadn't been the same since Shaoling had left. but she had made sure to ....intercept a lot of the more menial paperwork before it could make it's way up to the Captain and lieutenant, if only because well. She'd be damned if she was gonna let her squad start lagging behind over that kind of practice.

A slight smile crossed her face as she considered the rest of what Shaoling had said. "Hmmm. You got me in a tough spot Shaoling." She shook her head and set down her chopsticks. "On one hand, It'd be nice to have you as Captain again. But on the other hand... you've changed a lot. For the better. And I can't help but wonder if a little distance from..... all this shit." She gestured to the sereitei around them. "Was a big part of that. Sure....we could use you. But. You've served your tenure. Hell, you kept up your duty far more than plenty of the other old Timers. A part of me kinda wonders if you'd be happier away from all of it. While it's still all gunked up at least." She noted, shrugging.

She , of course, was not concerned with coming off like she was trying to convince Shaoling one way or the other. It'd be a cold day in hell before Shaoling let Tatsuki coerce her into anything. But even so, she couldn't help but voice her thoughts on the matter. After all, it's not like she knew what ACTUALLY was the reason for the change. She wasn't even around during Yoruichi's era as a Captain, or the time when Shaoling had first taken the mantle. All she knew was that Shaoling seemed a lot happier. It was only natural she worry about Shao losing some of that progress.